CSU coach Mike Bobo talks to quarterback Nick Stevens during a timeout in the second quarter of Saturday night's game against Boise State. Despite building big leads early, the Rams lost 59-52 in overtime, making a third straight 7-5 season likely.(Photo: Timothy Hurst/Staff Photographer)

CSU football coach Mike Bobo knows it and so does every other coach in the country.

So, he realizes it’s hard for people outside his program to see the progress he sees on the inside, he said Monday.

Fans see a team that’s 6-5 in Bobo’s third season, still needing a win Saturday in the regular-season finale against San Jose State to match what his first two CSU teams did. Each went 7-5 in the regular season, followed by a loss in a bowl game — to Nevada in the Arizona Bowl in 2015 and to Idaho in the Idaho Potato Bowl last season.

Some of those fans have taken to social media during the Rams’ three-game losing streak, demanding Bobo replace defensive coordinator Marty English or change defensive schemes. They’re criticizing his play-calling on the offensive end, saying the Rams (6-5, 4-3 Mountain West) become too predictable when they’re trying to protect leads.

Jim McElwain, fans point out, took a program that had gone 3-9 for three straight seasons under Steve Fairchild and guided it to records of 4-8, 8-6 and 10-3 before leaving for Florida. Bobo took over a 10-win team and led it to seven victories for what likely will be three straight seasons.

Bobo is glad fans care. He’s said as much several times this season. He wouldn’t want to coach somewhere where they don’t.

The coach isn’t panicking, though. He’s not changing his plan, despite losses the past three weeks to Air Force, Wyoming and Boise State, each one a bit harder to swallow than the one before it. In the latest, against Boise State late Saturday night, the Rams blew leads of 28-3 in the second quarter, 35-17 at halftime and 52-38 with 3 minutes remaining before losing in overtime, 59-52.

Progress?

Yes, the coach said, in ways he chose not to expand upon.

“We’re a better football team than we were from Year 1 to Year 2, from Year 2 to Year 3, there’s no question in my mind,” Bobo said at his weekly news conference. “And there’s some things we can address after the season. The main thing we’re doing is getting ready for San Jose State right now.”

Those things he’ll address after the season are likely to include a defense that is giving up 433.7 yards and 28.7 points a game. Those numbers are nowhere near the worst in the Mountain West this season but also not good enough to allow the league’s highest-producing offense to win more games.

CSU head coach Mike Bobo comforts freshman running back Rashaad Boddie (28) after fumbling the ball on the goal line of an overtime game against Boise State on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017, at CSU stadium in Fort Collins, Colo.(Photo: Timothy Hurst/Staff Photographer)

The Rams have a wealth of offensive talent, from quarterback Nick Stevens to receiver Michael Gallup to running back Dalyn Dawkins. On defense, they’ve got a lot of guys who try hard to make plays but don’t always have the vision, strength or speed to do so.

Yes, football is a team effort, and the offense, defense and special teams have to work together for a team to be successful.

But anyone who has watched the Rams the past three seasons can clearly see the offense is better than the defense. There’s simply more talent on the offensive side of the ball, from this year’s fifth-year seniors on down to the true freshmen.

That’s an issue Bobo and his staff need to address in their recruiting. It’s not like they haven’t tried. They just haven’t had the same kind of success, losing two defenders they had hoped could make an immediate impact from each of the past two signing classes.

Coaches can draw up schemes to play up their team’s strengths and hide its weaknesses. It’s what they do every week when they put together their game plans. And the Rams’ coaching staff obviously did a good job of that earlier in the year, during a 6-2 start to the season. But the teams CSU won those six games against weren’t as good as those they’ve lost to in the past three weeks.

Bobo knows he and his staff have to do a better job putting their players in positions where they can be successful. At some point, though, players need to make plays.

And that’s where the Rams have come up short in their past three games. They’re not making the plays that need to be made to win games. It’s why Bobo said practices this week will have a back-to-basics approach, emphasizing fundamentals.

Are the Rams better this year than they were last year or the year before?

Bobo says they are. I tend to think so, too. So do the fans expressing their anger on social media.

Expectations have been raised for this program.

Which is what makes another 7-5 season so difficult to swallow.

Follow reporter Kelly Lyell at twitter.com/KellyLyell and facebook.com/KellyLyell.news and listen to him talk CSU sports at 11:35 a.m. Thursdays on KFKA radio (AM 1310).

Facebook live pregame show: Join Coloradoan reporters Kevin Lytle and Kelly Lyell at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on the Coloradoan Facebook page for a look at the matchup and their thoughts on the game

Twitter updates: @Kevin_Lytle, @KellyLyell

Saturday's weather in Fort Collins: Sunny with a daytime high of 47 degrees and an overnight low of 28. Winds of 8 mph from the south

Tickets: $33 available online at CSURams.com/tickets, over the phone at 800-491-7267 or 970-491-7267, or in person at the McGraw Athletic Center ticket office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Coaches and records: CSU is coached by Mike Bobo, who is in his third season and is 20-17. San Jose State is coached by Brent Brennan who is 1-10 in his first season at San Jose State.